I wish to ask you if anyone knows some information about the current abbot of Wat Pah Nanachat. In my researches i found that his name is "Ajahn Kevali", but i could not find any other information about him. Where he was born, how long he is ordained, any dhamma teaching by him, etc. Does someone knows any information about it? I would like to read a short biography, or something like that.

Thank you. =)

Last edited by yureee123 on Tue Apr 01, 2014 12:58 am, edited 1 time in total.

---The trouble is that you think you have time------Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe------It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---

I read this text yesterday. Actually it was what started my curiousity about his history. Because i was (i am, actually) planing to stay in wat pah nanachat soon, and i felt unconfortable when i discovered this fact about its abbot. Although my knowledge about the bhikkhuni issue and also about the minutiae of the vinaya is quite superficial, beforehand i have a simpaty with Ajahn Brahm and also i strange the idea of forbid woman of getting ordained. In my thoughts, a mind is a mind, whatever the skin, sex, etc.

By the way, i know i have to deepen the issue.. for now, i was wishing to know more about this one who defends this idea. I'm hoping to find that, despite this question, he is a great teacher.

I met Ajahn Kevali a few years ago, he is from Germany and has been ordained about 17 years if I remember correctly. He is a nice man, and I found his advice in practicing the Brahma Vihara interesting, and useful.

I would advise listening to his teachings to ascertain more about him than what others say.

This offering maybe right, or wrong, but it is one, the other, both, or neither!Blog,-Some Suttas Translated,Ajahn Chah."Others will misconstrue reality due to their personal perspectives, doggedly holding onto and not easily discarding them; We shall not misconstrue reality due to our own personal perspectives, nor doggedly holding onto them, but will discard them easily. This effacement shall be done."

I spent just over three weeks there, and he seemed to me to be a competent and kind ajahn, but uninspiring. Good enough, I guess.Sorry, that sounds like Damning With Faint Praise.Several of the monks at Nanachat said he was reluctant to ordain people, and indeed, very few ordinations have happened during his time as abbott of Wat Pah Nanachat. I dunno what that's about, maybe just a lack of suitable candidates, but several monks there mentioned it.But judge the bhikkhu by his teachings, or even better in person.

Then, saturated with joy, you will put an end to suffering and stress.SN 9.11

A. Kevali told me that aspirants to ordination leave after a while, as they find his policy of zero internet and zero family and friends contact in the first 6 years are too tough on them; people go to A. Anan Akincano at Rayong instead who is more lenient in this regard. One person who stayed at Wat Pah Nanachat in November saw then 7 aspirants; by January when he was there again, they had all left.

piano piano wrote: zero family and friends contact in the first 6 years.

Wow! I wonder if that includes writing letters.

I did not ask about snail mail letters. We only talked about Internet and cell-phone use; A. Kevali explicitly said that Internet use was only allowable for organising a ticket, and nothing else. Actually I got the information about zero family contact from the above mentioned informant who found it too strict to be out of touch with family and friends for 6 years; he had spoken to A. Kevali as well.

I must say that I found Ajahn Kevali's position understandable since we are so much addicted to this instant exchange of information with each other, and this sharing with the whole world which is contrary to the idea of renunciation, and requires certainly a reprogramming of habits in a more wholesome direction. It is not about cencorship by someone else, but a re-learning of being simple and frugal and self-dependant, an attitude which would hardly be contradicted by the reception of an occasional letter.

It is quite possible that with more experience and knowledge in such matters, I would understand this policy. But from my current position, this ultra-strict policy just seems to discourage people from ordaining and that doesn't seem like a good thing.Edit: And I think there is neither precedence or support for this from the suttas.

pilgrim wrote:It is quite possible that with more experience and knowledge in such matters, I would understand this policy.

The background of this is the reality in Thailand (and perhaps elsewhere too), that everyone (including monks) has a Facebook page and is constantly referring to it, updating, checking, trying to get mote likes or "friends". In Thailand it is common that monks walk around with smartphones or tablets, some checking their mails during or after Pindapata perhaps because of better reception outside their wats.

I was reccently in a remote forest monastery when a group of Thai monks came visiting the ailing Luang Phor. One monk was taking pictures with his tablet and uploading them right away to Facebook. He was really taken aback when I told him I had no Facebook page, disappointed to not get another kick from being connected with a falang.

Another reason is that the training at Wat Pah Nanachat is constantly, even in the smallest details of life, referring to the Vinaya. I think that the perception is that using the Internet for other than immediate practical tasks is an unnecessary distraction from that training.

If you know a good number of older monks, you are likely to find among that number a few who are really internet-addicts. Internet-addiction is the scourge of the 21st century. I guess we all know this reality, including the seduction of claiming to make use of technology for a higher good. In this perspective it is understandable that a training which focusses exclusively on Vinaya will accept a zero-Internet policy.

I don't think it is suitable for monks to own a cell phone or for junior monks to have free access to the internet. Monks being alone with a computer could possibly be seen as equal to being alone with a member of the opposite gender - tongues may wag.

I'm not sure if this no contact rule towards family members really exists. Maybe with regards to the internet. Gratitude towards ones parents is mentioned very often within the context of the Ajahn Chah lineage. When I stayed there under the guidance of Ajahn Nyanadhammo several parents of monks showed up and they where always treated with great respect.

Plus I really don't think if parents would show up at the monastery gates they would be really send away. Such behaviour is just straight unthinkable. So I guess it refers more to internet activities.

Get the wanting out of waiting

What does womanhood matter at all, when the mind is concentrated well, when knowledge flows on steadily as one sees correctly into Dhamma. One to whom it might occur, ‘I am a woman’ or ‘I am a man’ or ‘I’m anything at all’ is fit for Mara to address. – SN 5.2

If they take what's yours, tell yourself that you're making it a gift.Otherwise there will be no end to the animosity. - Ajahn Fuang Jotiko